Lot 23,
"Girl Fishing at San Vigilio," by John Singer Sargent,
oil on canvas, 19 1/2 by 28 inches, 1913

By
Carter B. Horsley

This
auction has several excellent paintings by John Singer Sargent
(1856-1925) including Lot 23, "Girl Fishing at San Vigilio,"
a dazzling work.

The auction
also is highlighted by superb floral paintings by John La Farge
(1835-1910) and Maria Oakley Dewing (1845-1927) and good landscapes
by Abbot Fuller Graves (1859-1936), Charles Harold Davis (1856-1933),
Thomas Moran (1837-1926), Worthington Whittredge (1820-1910),
John W. Casilear (1811-1893), David Johnson (1827-1908), Thomas
Addison Richards (1820-1900), Alfred Thompson Bricher (1837-1908),
an interesting and rare work by William Rimmer (1816-1879) and
a sumptuous still life by William J. McCloskey (1859-1941).

The Sargent
painting, shown above, is an oil on canvas, 19 1/2 by 28 inches.
It is dated 1913 and has an estimate of $4,000,000 to $6,000,000.
It failed to sell.

Sargent
would become increasingly less interested in executing the society
portraits for which he was famous and would take refuge in trips
to the Alps, Venice and the Mediterranean with members of his
family. San Vigilio is a small fishing village on a point at the
southern end of Lake Garda in Italy and this painting was executed
in 1913 on his last European sojourn before the outbreak of World
War I. Sargent would travel with a variety of veils and shawls
and the like to dress his "models" on such trips. "The
woman in the present painting, possibly Jane de Glehn," the
catalogue noted, "wears a beige cashmere shawl with a paisley
border that is seen repeatedly in Sargent's paintings from his
travels in the Alps and around Italy. According to Carol Troyen,
the shawl was probably made in Kashmir around 1800-1820. She writes,
'Interestingly, the cashmere shawl which had been immensely popular
in the mid-nineteenth century, was no longer fashionable in the
Edwardian Era, except among those who favored antique clothing
and other modes of aesthetic dress. However, such high-style designers
as Jacques Doucet and Paul Poiret appropriated oriental motifs
for the borders of their garments, and Sargent's interest in exotic
and Near-Eastern garb may well have been reinforced by contemporary
costume design. (Sue Walsh Reed and Carol Troyen, Awash in Color:
Homer, Sargent, and the Great American Watercolor, Boston,
Massachusetts,
1993, p. 169)."

The painting,
the catalogue's entry continued, "perfectly captures the
carefree nature of Sargent's Mediterranean holidays, when the
artist was unencumbered by the strictures of urban society and
completely at ease."

While the
brilliant color of this painting is memorable, collectors of Sargent
will be hard-pressed to choose between it and another Sargent
painting, Lot 15, which has a wonderfully dramatic composition
but a far more restrained palette. Lot 15 is an oil on canvas,
19 3/4 by 25 1/2 inches, entitled "Rosina - Capri."
It was painted in 1878 and is the cover illustration for the catalogue.
It has an ambitious estimate of $5,000,000 to $7,000,000. It
sold for $5,395,750 including the buyer's premium as do all results
mentioned in this article.

The catalogue
provides the following commentary on this lot:

"At
the invitation of Frank Hyde, an English painter working in Capri,
Sargent established a studio in the abandoned monastery of Santa
Theresa. It was there that Hyde introduced him to a famous local
model, Rosina Ferrara, who appears in the present painting. Sargent
described her as 'an Ana Capri girl, a magnificent type, about
seventeen years of age, her complexion a rich nut-brown, with
a mass of blue-black hair, very beautiful, and of an Arab type'
Rosina became the artist's favorite model during his sojourn on
the island, appearing in a number of other paintings.The present
painting is one of two very similar versions of the same subject,
showing the young Rosina dancing the tarantella on the rooftop
of the Marina Hotel, accompanied by a female musician playing
a tambourine." The other version, which is a bit more detailed
and less atmospheric, is owned by the Warner Collection of Gulf
States Paper Corporation in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

This auction
has four other more conventional Sargents including a 35-by-45-oil
on canvas landscape study of San Vigilio, Lot 25, which has an
estimate of $300,000 to $400,000, which failed to sell and
was "bought in" for $260,000, and Lots 5 and 6,
watercolor studies of Simplon in the Alps, the former with a $40,000
to $60,000 estimate and the latter with a $20,000 to $30,000 estimate.
Lot 33 is a 74 1/4-by-35 3/4-inch oil on canvas portrait of Mrs.
Harry Vane Milbank that has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000.

Lot
8, "Water-Lilies with Red and Green Pads," by John La
Farge, watercolor and gouache on paper, 9 3/4 by 12 inches, 1883

Great watercolors
by John La Farge appear infrequently on the auction market. Lot
8, "Water-Lilies with Red and Green Pads," is a stunning
watercolor and gouache on paper, 9 3/4 by 12 inches, by La Farge.
It was executed circa 1883 and has a conservative estimate of
$200,000 to $300,000. It sold for $291,750. It was
formerly
in the collections of Mrs. James Montgomery Sears of Boston and
Mrs. Norman B. Woolworth of New York.

A bit more
subdued in its palette but extremely sumptuous is Lot 10, "Poppies
and Italian Mignonette," a fine 23-by-17-inch oil on canvas
by Maria Oakley Dewing. The work, which was once in the collection
of Charles Lang Freer, is dated 1891 and has an estimate of $1,000,000
to $1,500,000. It sold for $1,105,750. This artist
was
married to Thomas Wilmer Dewing, who is best known for his exquisitely
poetic and romantic and wispy paintings of women. The Dewings
spent their summer months in Cornish, New Hampshire, and she executed
one other painting of poppies, which is the collection of the
Addison Gallery of American Art.

Lovers of
flowers will also be tempted by Lot 7, "Flower Garden, Kennebunkport,
Maine," a 21-by-38-inch oil on canvas by Abbott Fuller Graves.
This very lovely work has a conservative estimate of $100,000
to $150,000. It sold for $330,750.

Lot 106,
is a good, dramatic depiction of "Cascade Falls, Yosemite,"
by Thomas Moran. The 29 1/4-by-19 1/4-inch oil on canvas was executed
in 1905 and has an estimate of $700,000 to $900,000. It sold
for $858,250. It is an unusually tall work by Moran.

Lot 121,
"Afternoon on the Beach," shown above, is a very fine
beach scene by Worthington Whittredge. The 9 1/4-by-15 1/4-inch
oil on canvas has a conservative estimate of $40,000 to $60,000.
It was passed at $32,500! Whittredge is best known
for
his lovely paintings of forest brooks and his Western pictures
of the plains, but his few beach scenes are magnificent.

John W.
Casilear is an important Hudson River School painter best known
for his finely detailed and well painted bucolic compositions.
Lot 120, "New England Beach Scene," is an extremely
nice beach scene that is rare in his oeuvre. The 10-by-15 1/2-inch
oil on canvas has an estimate of $15,000 to $25,000. It sold
for $24,900.

Casilear's
style is somewhat similar to that of David Johnson, whose work
is even more detailed. Lot 133, "Natural Bridge, Virginia,"
is an excellent example of Johnson's style. The oval painting
on panel measures 6 1/2 by 5 1/4 inches and has a conservative
estimate of $7,000 to $10,000. It sold for $49,625, an
exceptionally
high price considering that some nice paintings by Johnson have
not fared very well in recent sales.

Less well
known than either Casilear or Johnson, Thomas Addison Richards
produced some fine works and "Meditation in the Catskill
Mountains" is one of his very best. The 50-by-40-inch oil
on canvas, Lot 125, shown above, has an arched top and was executed
in 1851 and is a classic Hudson River School work with a modest
estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. This sold at the low end of
its estimate.

Alfred Thompson
Bricher is best known for his rocky coastal scenes with ships
in the distance under great panoplies of clouds. He produced many
such formulaic works, but his nicest paintings have figures in
them and this auction has three such paintings, Lots 103, 136
and 137. Lot 103 has an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. This
sold for $98,500. Lot 136 has an estimate of $60,000 to
$80,000.
It sold for $49,625. Lot 137 has an estimate of $50,000 to
$75,000. It was "passed" at 37,500.

Lot
126, "Battled of the Amazons," by William Rimmer, oil
on canvas, 14 by 18 inches, circa 1875

One of the
rarest American artists on the auction market is William Rimmer.
Lot 126, shown above, is a marvelously dynamic and energetic oil
on canvas by the artist, 14 by 18 inches, that was executed circa
1875. Entitled "Battle of the Amazons," it has an estimate
of $200,000 to $300,000 and has been widely exhibited. It was
"passed" at $130,000.

William
J. McCloskey specialized in table-top still lifes of wrapped fruit
and Lot 135 is a fine and colorful example. The 10-by17-inch oil
on canvas has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It sold
for a "hammer" price of $120,000, which does not include
the buyer's premium.

Lot 100
is a fine study of "Cherokee Roses in a Glass," by Martin
J. Heade (1819-1904). The 20 1/2-by-12 1/2-inch oil on canvas
was executed circa 1883-1895 and has an estimate of $200,000 to
$250,000. It sold for $313,750 including the buyer's premium.

Lot 153
is a fine and delicate watercolor of "The Palisades on the
Hudson" by Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823-1900). It measures
13 1/4 by 21 1/4 inches and has an estimate of $25,000 to $35,000.
It was "passed" for $19,000.

Lot 16,
"Simone in a White Bonnet Seated with Clasped Hands (No.
1)," is a fine pastel on paper, 24 1/2 by 18 1/2 inches,
by Mary Cassatt (1844-1926). It was executed circa 1903 and has
a conservative estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It sold for
$203,750. It was once in the collection of Justin K.
Thannhauser
of New York.

Lot 3,
"Spring Landscape," by John H. Twachtman (1853-1902),
a very poetic and nice 17 1/4-by-12 1/4-inch pastel on paper that
was once in the collection of Jo Ann and Julian Ganz Jr. of Los
Angeles was estimated at $20,000 to $30,000 and sold for $38,125.

Lot 17,
"Paris Scene - School Girls with a Nun," by Maurice
Prendergast, a 10 1//4-by-13 1/4-inch watercolor and pencil on paper,
sold within its estimate for $203,750. It is one of his loveliest.

Lot 55,
"Roberto," by Walt Kuhn (1880-1949), a 40-by-30-inch
oil on canvas, dated 1946, soared above its high estimate of $400,000
to sell for $1,105,750.

An exquisite
still life by John Ferguson Weir (1841-1926), Lot 94, entitled
"Roses in a Porcelain Bowl," also fared extremely well,
selling for $64,000. The 16 -by-12 3/4-inch oil on canvas had
a high estimate of $35,000.

Lot 111,
"The Tables Turned," an amusing painting of bears aiming
a rifle at hunters by William H. Beard (1823-1900) sold for $58,250.
The 16-by-30-inch oil on canvas had a high estimate of $30,000.